Nice Pete mine is late 1979 too, built in December! I'll be putting in LEDS to the cluster before i put it back in the car. I will be making a few mods to the car but as I said earlier I want to be able to switch it all back to "factory" If I wanted to.

The underside of the seat belt black plastic casings will have an exact date of manufacture by the supplier heat stamped into them.
I usually look at the rear seat belts because the rear seat belts are rarely replaced.
 
Also the main under dash wire harness has (if surviving) a paper tag date of manufacture by the supplier.
 
The RS2000's appear to have been sold very quickly not long after assembly so these dates are a good guide.
 
You can also apply to Ford (itself) for manufacturing details of that exact vehicle. Ford will give you are certificate as proof of authenticity. Can't recall if has date of manufacture but can look it up to confirm if it interests you.
 
Peter.  :)
 
 
 

I am lucky to still have the original owners manual with date of sale stamped in it from the dealer  I will get a certificate though from ford cause that sounds pretty cool.

Not much happened on the car this weekend - just stripped down the doors and labeled everything and boxed it up. Next on the list is getting the engine out and that will happen after X-mas. I'll still be plodding away on some bits and bobs between now and then but nothing super interesting - more house keeping.

Bit of progress on the car - front calipers got stripped down and I've test fitted the rear tramp rod brackets and used some chassis adhesive to keep them in place ahead of welding, as I've mentioned before I'm not the most confident welder - especially on the ground upside down so I'll leave it to the body shop to weld them in. I am happy to take on the diff side though because I'll be able to do that on the bench, I'll get that done over the next week or so.
 
Driver Side Bracket
 
 
Diff mount - need to grind off sway bar mount then weld on tramp rod bracket
 

 
Over 40 years of scum in the caliper - I'm shocked it stopped as well as it did before it was parked up.
 

 
Initial clean up 
 

 

Catching up on this post. Those tramp rod brackets look nice and solid. Never heard of chassis adhesive?
 
I have gotten a few of those verification letters from Ford over the years but have heard through the grapevine they no longer do this? below is their details, from their last reply to a verification request in 2017.
 
Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd
Telephone: 13 36 73 (13 FORD) (Local Call)
Fax: +61 3 8301 3899
Email: foacust1@ford.com

Here is a link to the product - disclaimer though I would NEVER use it in replacement of a welded join. Modern vehicles are actually held together with a combination of products like this and spot welds to seal the joins from water ingress/vibration etc. I've just used it in the past and in this instance to hold things in place before the final permanent join is made.
 
https://aus.sika.com/en/industry/transportation/body-panel-adhesive/sikaflex-252.html
 
Once the weld goes down this stuff becomes redundant - the heat will probably compromise it anyway. 

Some manufacturers use it solely on there cars like TVR to bond the floor to the chassis and side panels together..
I have used it on my fglass panels to bond the inner frame to the inner skin, never any problems with it seperating ever.
Tramp bar kit, I make my own as I've got enough steel and tools to make them.
When welding(not you personally) they should be stitched on, might suggest a plug weld at the floor panel too , not fully welded then use your sika seal the gaps . Sway bkt is a pain in the ar5e . Just a heads-up, you might know this.. When you do the axle bracket, make sure the car is at the ride height your planning (or close to) so the bars/bushes aren't binding .

Thanks for the heads up regarding the plug welds, I'm happy to give that a go myself because i can do that from the inside. 
 
I've already got lowered leaf springs in the car so it's at the height it will stay at - bought them back in the day after one of the springs snapped from a combination of wear and tear from lowering blocks and compression lock up on a down shift. My plan is to drop the diff out, grind off the brackets, put it back in and put the axle stands back under the diff and chuck some weight in the boot to simulate a full fuel tank. Then ill situate the brackets, spot them in place and then bring the diff out to weld them properly. Bit of messing about but it should stop it from binding. 

My dad found an old photo of the car parked in his driveway when I was on my P Plates and it had just had a fresh coat of paint. 

I still have those wheels - they rubbed on the inner guard and the outer guard at full lock , plus my tastes have changed since I was 18 so I'll be getting a nice set of 13x7s to go on it once it's road ready. Not sure what style yet!
 

Yeah I did notice the reverse eye springs, just by having them reduced tramping. The car only needs to be close so if a bag of cement is handy that'll be fine.
Wheels, if you like the RS 4 spoke, there's a shop here in Adel that sells a set for about $1000 , Mini King or Mini Works ?? Not sure .. He can get them in 15x7 as well ..
I like the Compomotive MO 5 spoke or Revolution 4 spoke/ 5 spoke as used on Frank Kelly's Escort .
Deano bought Compomotive ML for his van and I think you can ask for any colour as well. Personally I reckon 15x?? Is best choice due to tyre options, 13s are not so easy to get what you want in tred
Done quite a few tramp kit fit up in my time. If you are welding just remember to send more weld on the thicker steel and creep to the thinner metal in a loop style (cursive L) , but since you welding up side down all I can offer is good luck there !!
While on the welding chat, if your pulling out the diff, maybe cut off the spring hangers and central them, Escort are never in the middle, did it to a mk1 a while ole back , pain in the .. but the 7.5" fitted perfectly